Open Solo 2.5-RC1 Beta

OPEN SOLO 2.5-RC1 BETA

This is the first release candidate for user beta testing of Open Solo. Since 3DR open sourced the Solo and controller, many new possibilities have opened up. Combined with the continued development of mobile apps like Solex and SidePilot, the solo is now growing up even more!

Stock Solos vs Green Cube Solos

This is fully compatible with both totally stock Solos and green cube solos! They both require some different handling of code and firmware, but I've worked all of that into the code and firmware. You do not need to pick and choose, and we don't need multiple release versions for the different hardware. The code will auto-detect which cube you have, and use that information to auto install the correct version of ArduCopter on it.

STOCK SOLO SPECIFIC UPDATES: The following applies only to stock solo Pixhawk cubes and does not apply to Green Cube solos.

• 3DR's last ArduCopter release, v1.5.3 instead of the old v1.3.1.
  • Distance based battery failsafe: Triggers RTH to be on the ground at approx 10% remaining. If you want to adjust this yourself, you can manually tweak parameter FS_BATT_CUR_RTL. A value of 21 gets you on the ground with about 10% remaining. A higher value will RTH sooner leaving a higher % remaining.
  • Improved landing detection: This greatly improves the solo's ability to detect it has landed. In the past, it could get confused by a rough, fast, or jerky landing. This results in it refusing to disarm or and sometimes flipping over. The new landing detection algorithm is greatly enhanced. You will notice it now takes and extra second or so to disarm once you're on the ground. And you may see a little twitch in the throttle. It is literally testing the ground. It works quite nicely.
  • Low battery thrust priority: If the battery is getting dangerously low, it will allow itself to sacrifice yaw (rotation) control to increase thrust to prevent a crash. This could give you the thrust you need to land softly rather than dropping out of the sky.
  • Smart shot altitude priority: Will not lose altitude by going too fast in Follow Mode! In Smart Shots, the solo will not allow itself to go "too fast" causing a loss of altitude.

GREEN CUBE SPECIFIC UPDATES: The following applies to Green Cube equipped solos and does not apply to stock Solos.

• The most recent stable production release of ArduCopter, which today is ArduCopter 3.5.2
  • No change if you're already flying with 3.5.2
  • Boat mode! You can arm and take off from moving vehicles/vessels
  • 3 improved IMUs, 2 of which are vibration isolated and heated.
  • Ability to use RTK GPS for surveys, ADS-B aircraft avoidance, lidar laser altimeters, terrain awareness and following, IR precision landing, and even and “indoor GPS”.
  • Hundreds of enhancements since 2015, and continued development by the ArduPilot team.

AWESOMENESS FOR ALL

• Single install package: Added detection of which Cube you have installed in your solo. This will be used to install the proper version of ArduCopter. This is why there isn't a green cube vs stock version. One does it all.
• Factory reset update: This updates the factory reset (recovery partition) to no longer require 3DR servers or an internet update. If you factory reset, it will come back up with a clean installation of Open Solo that is fully operational! No internet needed. No update needed. Calibrate and fly.
• Controller: short and long hold button functions: Added short hold (2-seconds) and long hold (3 seconds) events to the A, B, Pause, camera preset, and camera trigger buttons. This allows you to assign and use functions based on short and long holding the buttons. Input is needed from beta testers on what these defaults should be. The assignments can be edited in /usr/bin/extSettings.conf.
  The defaults are as follows:
  • A single press: Manual
  • A short hold: Stabilize
  • A long hold: Auto mode
  • B single press: Position Hold
  • B short hold: Drift
  • B long hold: Sport
  • Camera Preset top long hold: None
  • Camera Preset bottom long hold: None
  • Camera trigger long hold: Gimbal lock ("FPV race mode")
• Controller: CH7 on/off improvement: Long hold pause button to turn CH7 option on. Short hold pause to turn CH7 option off. This removes the conflict with the pause function, which still uses the normal single click. If you use landing gear, you should keep using this for now.
• Controller display and haptic: Updated numerous displayed messages and haptic feedback to be more useful and helpful to the user.
• Safety & Mode Reliability: Removed numerous unnecessary layers fro communication between the controller and Cube. The fly, home, and pause button functions now communicate directly to the Cube and ArduCopter rather than going through layers of handling the smart shot manager. Also made mode changes better handle a smart shot that didn't properly close.
• Smart shot cleanups and compatibility fixes:
  • All the compatibility fixes needed for the green cube.
  • Standardized horizontal acceleration to 2/m/s/s across all shots for consistency and smoothing.
  • Entering shot reduces copter pitch/roll acceleration for smoothing and consistency, especially with green cube solos that have more power.
• Added compatibility with Solex geotagging functions
• Home button and RTH failsafe now use ArduCopter RTL Mode instead of the old "Return Home" smart shot. This is more reliable and eliminates numerous points of failure. They have the same end result.
• Newer version of some system files to make troubleshooting and recovery from problems easier.
• Factory reset will now reset the ArduCopter parameters on the pixhawk to default as well. This was always a troubleshooting problem, and eliminates unnecessary extra steps.
• Lost functionality: I tried very hard to not remove existing functionality just because I don't use it. However two things had to get sacrificed in this due to compatibility and incomplete development from 3DR. I don't think either of these worked right to begin with, and I don't think many people even bothered trying to use them.
  • Rewind has been removed. The 3DR Solo app still has the option to turn it on/off, which also never worked right, and they will not do anything. This was a feature 3DR was in the middle of developing when they closed shop. It is not compatible with ArduCopter RTL mode. It is something that may be revised in the future as something that isn't connected to any failsafe and is executed with a button push. But not right now.
    -Hover instead of landing when returning to home has been removed. This was intertwined with the rewind code and the old return home smart shot. It is not compatible with ArduCopter RTL mode. And it also was incomplete and not really safe to use anyway. This again is something I'd like to revisit in the future, since it has some use cases (like boating). But for now, it's only return home and land when it gets there.
  • Alternative for now: If you need the hover option, you can manually increase ArducCopter parameter RTL_LOIT_TIME. It is in milliseconds. It is the amount of time the copter will hover prior landing. If simply turn it up to several minutes or whatever suites you needs, you will have the same effect.

Installation Instructions

The process for installing Open Solo is quite straightforward. The general steps are

1. Load install package.
2. Reboot
3. Calibrate.
4. Fly.

Detailed instructions for each installation method can be found here:

• Install using the Solex app on Android
• Install using SidePilot app on iOS (not yet)
• Install using a Windows PC (not yet)